Hello to any of my readers and "Dear (weekly) Diary" 😜

It's that day of the week in which I find the most interesting Splinterlands experience I've had over the past week to share! That fits in perfectly with the theme of the weekly Splinterlands Social Media Challenge too!

But first, a quick look at what happened this week in the world of crypto.

It seems like all the doomsayers expecting even lower prices have been wrong. Just barely a week after BTC hit "lows" of $52k, it has gone all the way back up to $60k again. It seems that the German government's stash of BTC has been almost completely absorbed by the market and worries about a downward spiral in prices were unfounded. The question about Mount Gox and any possible liquidation from it's refunds to customers are still up in the air though. Will there be another "discount" in the days/weeks ahead? Who knows? Of course, I could be completely wrong too, so, please do not heed my advice for your own investment purposes! 😜📈🚀

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A brief introduction before I start though...

Good Day to all Splinterlands players! (and people of HIVE! 😜) I've made it a point to blog about my weekly progress and experiences in Splinterlands/HIVE in my "weekly diary". Splinterlands & HIVE are what I'd consider to be my entry point into the World of Crypto, and I intend to use this as a means to look back on the path I've taken in the years ahead.⏳⏳⏳

This is now the 138th consecutive week writing in my Diary (of sorts) detailing my Splinterlands Journey ever since I started this game. I talk about what has gone on my personal Splinterlands playing experience, my weekly Guild Brawl Reports, and also any Splinterlands ingame news. 🎉🥳🎊

No week goes by in Splinterlands without some news event happening though. And here's my pick of some of the most interesting ones in my opinion. 📰📰📰

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🗺️🧳✈️Updates on my Splinterlands Journey🗺️🧳✈️

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This week's Social Media Challenge is all about sharing our remarkable Splinterlands moments. I'd have shared my daily and weekly activities in the past, BUT, usually, nothing really special really happens in my daily Splinterlands daily grind, so let's hope this is more interesting for reading?... let's get down to it! 🤣

This week has seen some minor updates and changes but there doesn't seem to be anything in particular which stands out to me. However, I think we should still dive into the details and see what’s in store for us with a point form summary of the announced news. Hopefully, I haven't missed out too much of it and got the gist of it correct.

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Splinterlands Updates (July 9, 2024)

Land Updates

• Tundras and Canyons updated to have +10% / -50% bonuses to cards, instead of +5% / -10%.
• Fixed an issue with performing multiple liquidity withdrawals from the Trade Hub.
• Fixed an issue with surveying where land plots were not properly displaying the deed images.
• Fixed an issue with calculating the projected end date of constructing a worksite under certain circumstances.

Soulkeep Updates

• Fixed an issue with Combine All over-combining Soulkeep cards.
• Fixed an issue where you could improperly list currently unlocking Soulkeep cards for rent.
• Separated Soulkeep market numbers out from Splinterlands market numbers.
• Added Soulkeep to the rewards delegation UI.

General Updates

• Fixed some issues with degrees of precision being shorter than intended after localization changes were added.
• Updated the Dark Energy Crystal USD price on the convert SPS page to show the more standard 7 decimals used in other places on the site for DEC pricing.
• Fixed an issue where Tournament/Brawl battles would play without the notification to watch the battle being selected by the user.
• Added an Academy panel to the Events page.
• Fixed issues with the music on the Events page using the wrong volume setting and not stopping when leaving the screen.
• The Events page filter selections will now persist unless the browser cache is cleared.
• Terablock has rebranded their SPS exchange to zKCross, and their logo and link have been updated on our site.
• Merits are now the first payment option for Blood and Power stones.
• Added some additional error checking on the burning cards operation. It should now properly log errors on invalid data being passed in a transaction on the transaction results.
• Cleaned up Spinterbites referencing Discord roles.

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My quest for more Gold Foil Legendary cards from my rewards chests "The New Glint Shop" continues on ("Greed is Good!" 😈). It's STILL a 0.008% chance, at base level, ridiculously low chance to pull a legendary gold foil, in case you were wondering 😉. Here's to more jackpot strikes in the future (i hope) 🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀.

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⚔️🛡️My Battle Showcase🛡️⚔️

The removal of League Level limits in battles allowed some really interesting matchups. No longer are "low level" players protected by their league limits. This often leads to some very lopsided battles. However, there is also the opportunity here to punch above your weight and secure a David VS Goliath win. As always, let me once again showcase some really great underdog victories I have achieved this past week!

Let me present a battle (or some battles) I fought recently in which I managed, against all odds, to win these players who out levelled me on an order of magnitude that I couldn't imagine. Victory or defeat would lie in the small details. 😱

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LINK TO MY FIGHT

I would say this was a fight of epic lop-sidedness! 😱

I was not facing an absolute MAXIMUM level opponent, but this was as close as it got. The opponent was using an almost max level deck with his level 6 Obsidian. And if that wasn't enough, I had the misfortune to also go with the same Earth splinter too. This battle of "The Earth" had me at the clear disadvantage as I was going to lose out to the opponent purely to sheer power and level.

At the end of the day, there were a few factors which resulted in my unexpected win.

• Firstly, the ruleset EXPLOSIVE WEAPONRY gave my faster units the advantage as I would be able to hopefully clear out more of the opponent's team before he could react. I was not in the clear yet though, as I still had to contend with the difference in our unit levels.

• My Katrelba Gobson turned out to be the star of the day as it singlehandedly completely destroyed the opponent's army from the rear. Thanks to it's SPEED advantage and SNEAK and BLOODLUST ability, the opponent's army was devastated as mine grew stronger with every single kill!

In the end, all I can say is that it is important not to leave your backline undefended. 😜

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Who would have guessed that my lowly teams would have been able to pull off such David VS Goliath upset wins? I guess nothing is impossible and sometimes, all you need is some luck and great strategy!

💭🧐💭Ending Thoughts💭🧐💭

I definitely can appreciate how utilising the most of your deck's strengths can lead to unexpected outcomes. This is one of those situations in which Davids can beat Goliaths if surrounded with the proper team. The role every single carefully selected unit brings to the battlefield will give a player the edge in squeezing out every tiny advantage to get the win. 👍🏻

For any players who feel daunted with the new battle level changes, I hope this article has given you some insight into the potential of every single card regardless of it's level. 😉

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🤑💰🍕Added Bonus of PIZZA Token🤑💰🍕

_{I will use my staked 🍕PIZZA🍕 to share a slice of 🍕PIZZA🍕 with anyone in the comments who also FOLLOWS & REBLOGS my post in the interests of spreading the Word of Pizza 🤣🤣🤣
Just let me know if you've done that so I can easily keep track. 👍
Any fellow 🍕PIZZA🍕 connoisseurs who !PIZZA me will also receive 🍕PIZZA🍕 back from me. 😊}

📣🍕SHOUTOUT to HivePizza📣🍕

_{The guys over at PIZZA DISCORD have been very helpful throughout my Splinterlands journey. I strongly recommend that you guys check it out if you haven't already done so.
PIZZA is an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain. Popular games on HIVE like SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR, EXODE, HASHKINGS, WOO, TERRACORE have their own PIZZA communities here.}

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_{Don't miss out more events that are always being organised. Join the PIZZA DISCORD. Even if you aren't interested in the 💰🍕🎁GIVEAWAYS & AIRDROPS💰🍕🎁, there is a vibrant and friendly community there awaiting you.}

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_{Here's to wishing everyone all the best for the upcoming week 🎉🍀.}

_{To any new players who wish to explore the world of Splinterlands, do feel free to sign up with my REFERRAL LINK😊.}